Airdrie mother desperately needs funds for life-saving cancer treatment

Hope comes at high cost for Airdrie woman An Airdrie woman battling an aggressive form of cancer hopes a drug trial not available in Canada could prolong her life.

A 23-year-old Airdrie woman who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer while pregnant is desperately in need of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a potentially life-saving drug trial only available in the United States.

"I just want to grow old with my husband and to be here to see my two young kids Sophia and Theo grow up," said Brooke Kajdy, holding back tears.

"They mean everything to me."

Kajdy was 20 weeks pregnant in June of last year when she began to experience crippling pain.

Doctors originally told her to wait it out until she gave birth but she became so weak that she was barely able to crawl up a set of stairs.

"It was misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis and it wasn't until I was at the Foothills hospital getting an IV for antibiotics when the doctor I was seeing said, 'Something isn't right here,'" Kajdy said.

Following a biopsy on her hip, she was diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, characterized by cancer that has spread outside the lymphatic system into organs such as the liver or lungs or into the bone marrow.

The only options she was given were to terminate the pregnancy via injection and start full treatment, or to continue the pregnancy.

She decided to move forward with her pregnancy and fight to keep her future son alive.

"I spent three weeks admitted in the hospital getting chemotherapy that was safe for my son Theo while he was inside me and at the 32-week mark, I had a C-section," Kajdy said.

"Theo was in the NICU for two more months and I was able to continue on higher doses of chemotherapy. I've done more rounds of chemotherapy since then but unfortunately, none of them have worked."

Kajdy was able to receive an immunotherapy called CAR T-cell therapy in November 2023, which killed about 95 per cent of the cancer but she was then met with more bad news.

"I'll never forget when that doctor looked us both in the eyes and told us that the treatment hadn't worked and she gave Brooke six months to a year to live," said Kajdy's husband Gabe.

"This news absolutely destroyed us, but Brooke wasn't going to accept it and wanted to keep fighting."

Drug trial estimated to cost up to $1 million

Out of options, Kajdy and her husband were told by their oncologist about two different drug trials available at cancer hospitals in Seattle and Houston.

The biggest hurdle is the cost.

"My oncologist told us that these trials kind of start at $500,000 but closer to the $1-million mark," Kajdy said.

"It's very hard and very upsetting. ... My care team here is great. I've been with them since halfway through my diagnosis. They know me, they know what we've done, what we've been through. They know that I have kids and stuff, so, yeah, it is really hard and upsetting that it's not available here."

Dr. Kevin Hay is Kajdy's oncologist and a clinical scientist at the University of Calgary.

He says stage 4 lymphoma is an advanced stage of cancer but often treatable.

"In Calgary, we have access to the standard treatments used at first diagnosis and relapse for this lymphoma, if the cancer responds to treatment," Hay said.

"In some cases, a patient's cancer does not respond to multiple lines of treatment and therefore the only option is a clinical trial. Unfortunately, there are currently no trials available for such cases but options to go to the U.S. for a clinical trial are viable but costly to the patient."

A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $30,000 as of Wednesday morning.

The trial Kajdy hopes to receive in Houston is another immunotherapy CAR T-cell treatment that attacks a protein different from the current treatment in Canada.

Another treatment available at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre in Seattle would use a donor's stem cells to kill Kajdy's cancer cells.

The drug itself in both treatments is covered but costs for hospital stays, tests, scans and travel expenses for trips every three months for at least a year would add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Despite the uncertainties, Kajdy is keeping a positive spirit and wants others to know how grateful she is for their love and support through her entire cancer journey.

"If there's anything I want people to recognize here, it's that it's so important for people to advocate for yourself," Kajdy said.

"You're not alone."

'More work to do': Alberta Health

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says the provincial government is committed to providing quality and accessible health care -- including cancer prevention, screening and treatment -- to all Albertans.

"Our hearts go out to families facing cancer diagnoses," an emailed statement to CTV News read.

"We know there is always more work to do.

"Currently, there are two sources of funding for Albertans who receive medical treatment outside Canada: funding through the Out-of-Country Health Services Committee or partial coverage through the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). Services must be insured health services that are not available in Canada. However, services that are experimental, undergoing clinical trials or fall within the category of applied research are not eligible for funding."

LaGrange says the Ministry of Health is also continuing to refocus Alberta's health-care system to "ensure that Albertans can access appropriate care, with Alberta Health Services focusing on acute care priorities like cancer care."